Humax Aura EZ Freely Box: What Can It Actually Record?

After months of leaks, premature retailer listings, and carefully worded non-announcements, Humax has finally published some official information about the AuraEZ Freely 4K Recorder on its website.

And whilst they still haven’t told us when we can actually buy the thing, we’ve got answers to the biggest question that’s been hanging over this device since it first appeared back in September: what can it actually record?

The answer, as most of us suspected all along, is that recording works only from traditional aerial-based Freeview channels.

Freely’s streaming channels are accessible but not recordable. It’s official now, straight from Humax: “Recording and traditional live pause features require an aerial connection.”

So the Aura EZ (also known as Humax FHR-6000T) is exactly what we thought it would be – a hybrid device that bridges two worlds.

You get Freely’s streaming platform for live channels and catch-up content, plus traditional Freeview recording capabilities for everything that comes through your aerial.

It’s a transitional product, built for people who aren’t ready to give up recording control but want access to Freely’s expanding channel lineup and unified interface.

Whether that compromise makes sense at £249 depends entirely on what you need from your TV setup and how the AuraEZ stacks up against the competition that has emerged. But for now, here’s everything we know about Humax’s upcoming box.

The Freely box market heats up

Quick context for anyone who hasn’t been following the Freely saga: Freely launched in April 2024 as Everyone TV’s streaming platform designed to eventually replace traditional Freeview and Freesat.

The platform delivers live TV channels and catch-up content entirely through your broadband connection – no aerial or satellite dish required.

You get BBC, ITV, Channel 4, 5, and around 60 other channels, all streamed over the internet rather than broadcast over the airwaves.

Until recently, accessing Freely meant buying a brand new TV from select manufacturers. That frustrated viewers with perfectly good TVs who were curious about Freely but weren’t ready to spend hundreds of pounds on new hardware just to try it.

The standalone Freely box market has gone from zero devices to fierce competition in just three months.

The Netgem Pleio (see my review) launched in November 2025 at £99, running Android TV 14 with full Google Play Store access, 250+ cloud games, and streaming-only delivery. After some pricing turbulence (£119.88 in January), it’s currently back at £99 following Manhattan’s entry into the market.

Manhattan’s Aero launched on February 6 for £69.99 and sold out at Currys within 24 hours.

Running TiVo OS rather than Android TV, it offers 60+ Freely channels, major streaming apps, and both Wi-Fi 6 and Ethernet connectivity – undercutting the Pleio significantly whilst adding the wired connection the Pleio lacks.

Both devices are streaming-only with no recording capabilities whatsoever.

For viewers who’ve made peace with the shift away from recording and just want an affordable way to get Freely on an existing TV, they’re currently the available options – when you can actually find them in stock.

The AuraEZ sits in a completely different category. At £249 for the 2TB model, it costs more than three Aero boxes or two and a half Pleios. You’re paying that premium specifically for recording capability – and, for keeping one foot in the Freeview world whilst dipping the other into Freely’s streaming future.

What we now know about the AuraEZ

Humax has now published a proper product page for the AuraEZ, complete with marketing copy, specifications, and a FAQ section that addresses the recording question head-on.

The information is currently sitting on the same webpage as the discontinued Freeview Aura, which suggests someone at Humax might have uploaded it a bit prematurely (again), but here’s what we can learn from that page, and the Richer Sounds product page.

Humax’s pitch mentions “Two brilliant TV experiences. One simple box.” The AuraEZ combines traditional Freeview recording capabilities with Freely’s streaming platform, allowing you to use either depending on what you’re watching.

Recording capabilities (with an aerial connected):

• Record up to four channels simultaneously whilst watching a fifth live
• 2TB hard drive storing up to 1,000 hours of recordings
• Full series recording so you never miss an episode
• Pause, rewind, and restart live TV

Freely streaming (via Wi-Fi, no aerial required):

• 60+ live TV channels
• 75,000+ hours of on-demand content
• All the major UK broadcaster services in one interface
• No monthly subscription

Technical specifications:

• Three tuners (enabling those four simultaneous recordings)
• Android TV 12
• 4K HDR support with Dolby Digital Plus audio
• HDMI 2.1 connection
• Both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi, plus Ethernet
• Aerial input and loop-through ports
• 1x USB 3.0 port and 1x USB 2.0 port
• Dimensions: 280mm x 200mm x 53mm
• 3GB RAM, 16GB internal storage

The device includes both wired and wireless connectivity options, addressing one of the complaints about the Wi-Fi-only Netgem Pleio.

The recording reality

Let’s be clear about what this actually means in practice.

When you’re watching channels via your aerial – BBC One, ITV, Channel 4, and everything else available through traditional Freeview – you get full recording capabilities (as you do on any other Freeview recorder box).

Schedule recordings, pause live TV, build up a library of content, skip through the adverts on playback. All the things people value about recording are there, as long as you’re using the aerial input.

Switch to Freely’s streaming interface (accessed via a dedicated button on the remote), and recording disappears.

You can then stream live channels, you can scroll backwards through the EPG to access catch-up content, and Freely offers 15 minutes of pause/restart functionality across all its devices.

But you can’t record programmes from Freely’s streaming channels onto the hard drive.

Humax’s FAQ makes this explicit:

Can I record Freely programmes?
“Recording is available for live TV received via an aerial using the Humax recorder. Freely streamed content is designed for live viewing and on-demand playback over Wi-Fi and does not use the hard drive for recording.”

This isn’t Humax being difficult – it’s the fundamental limitation that’s prevented any manufacturer from offering streaming recording on Freely.

The industry’s direction is absolutely clear, and Humax can’t magic up streaming recording functionality that the entire broadcasting ecosystem has been built to prevent.

The AuraEZ gives you both worlds – traditional recording where it’s still possible (via aerial), and Freely streaming for everything else. Whether that’s a useful compromise or an expensive half-measure depends entirely on your viewing habits and how much you value recording control.

It’s also worth noting that on Freely TVs, the broadcast defaults to the over-the-air version when an aerial is connected. If that remains the same on the AuraEZ, it means you’ll be watching the Freeview versions of most channels, instead of the streaming versions – as long as the aerial stays connected.

Streaming apps: the big unknown

The AuraEZ manual mentions YouTube and Prime Video, and obviously you’ll get all the Freely broadcaster apps – BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, My5, U (UKTV Play), BBC Sounds, and more. But what about everything else?

This is where things get murky. The AuraEZ runs Android TV 12, which is a step up from the original Aura’s Android TV 9 but behind the Netgem Pleio’s Android TV 14.

More importantly, what type of Android TV experience are we getting?

The original Aura famously never got Netflix despite running Android TV, and NOW TV was also absent.

Will this be a full Android TV experience with access to the Google Play Store, or another locked-down implementation with limited app support? Humax hasn’t said so far.

The mobile app

The Humax AuraEZ app is on its way, though Humax hasn’t provided a timeframe for when it’ll actually arrive.

Once available, the app will let you schedule recordings remotely, manage and review your planned recordings, and play back compatible recordings on supported devices.

This matches features available on previous Humax devices – the ability to set recordings whilst you’re out, stream recordings to your phone, or download shows to watch later on the move.

What we still don’t know

Despite Humax finally going official with product information, some rather important questions remain unanswered.

Launch date: Richer Sounds’ website now says “Mid-February” for expected stock, but Humax still hasn’t confirmed anything official. We’re already well into February, so “mid-February” means the next week or so – if that timing holds.

Retailers: Currently, only Richer Sounds and Euronics stores have listed the device. It will likely be available in places like Currys, Amazon, Argos and other major retailers – but nothing’s been confirmed yet.

Simultaneous operation: With three tuners, presumably you could watch Freely streaming content whilst recording Freeview channels in the background – but Humax hasn’t explicitly confirmed this.

It would make sense given the hardware, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Who is this actually for?

The AuraEZ makes sense for a fairly specific audience – people who value recording but want access to Freely’s unified streaming platform as well.

You probably want this if:

• You still value recording and aren’t ready to rely entirely on catch-up services
• You want to skip adverts on recorded content rather than sitting through them on catch-up
• You have good Freeview aerial reception and want to keep using it
• You’re interested in Freely but want it as a complement to traditional TV rather than a replacement
• You’re building a library of content you want to keep long-term
• You’re willing to pay £249 for the flexibility of having both options

You probably don’t want this if:

• You’ve already made peace with streaming and catch-up being the future
• You rarely or never record programmes
• You don’t have an aerial connection or your Freeview reception is terrible
• £249 feels like too much when the Aero offers Freely for £69.99

The transitional compromise

The original Humax Aura launched in 2020 with considerable promise – a Freeview Play recorder running Android TV, combining traditional recording with modern streaming apps.

In practice, it struggled with reliability issues, Netflix never arrived, and software updates were minimal. When Humax discontinued it in January 2026, it had been on the market for five years but never quite fulfilled its potential.

Whether Humax has learned from those issues with the AuraEZ remains to be seen. Android TV 12 is newer but still not the latest version, and we don’t know how it will function yet.

More fundamentally, the AuraEZ exists because we’re in an awkward transitional period for UK television. Freeview and Freesat won’t be switched off tomorrow, but the direction is clear – streaming is replacing broadcast, and the infrastructure that makes traditional TV recording possible has a finite lifespan.

Research suggests Freeview could be switched off by 2034 – just eight years away.

That gives the AuraEZ roughly a decade of relevance before the aerial-based recording it’s built around becomes impossible as the transmitters get switched off.

For some households, a decade is plenty. The 2TB hard drive would continue working as a Freely streaming box even after aerial TV disappears, albeit as a very expensive way to access streaming services you could get from a £70 Aero.

The real test will be whether there’s actually demand for a £249 hybrid recorder in a market where cheaper streaming-only alternatives have been selling out repeatedly.

The Aero and Pleio have proven people want affordable Freely boxes. Whether they want expensive recording-capable Freely boxes is the question that’ll be answered once this actually launches.

For viewers who’ve been waiting for someone – anyone – to offer a Freely device with recording capabilities, this is probably as close as we’re going to get. The AuraEZ is that compromise, boxed up and priced at £249.

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